Barcelona 24/07/2023 and las 04:47 CEST
Spain was not a favourite, but Diego Botín has made a masterful start
With 16 points, he ties with Denmark in the second position of the absolute general
The Spanish team, led by Diego Botín from Cantabria, has made history on the SailGP World Tour of F50 catamarans (15 meters long) with ‘foils’ (hydrofoils), winning at dawn today at the Los Angeles Grand Prix, the second test of the fourth season.
The Spanish F50 ‘Victoria’ has surpassed, in an extraordinary final, the teams of Denmark and Australiawinner of the three previous seasons.
It was the first victory for Spain in a Circuit Grand Prix since his arrival there in April 2021, then under the command of Jordi Xammar.
Today the Spaniards have formed with Diego Botín (helmsman), Florian Trittel from Barcelona (wing sail trimmer), Joel Rodríguez (flight controller) from the Canary Islands, Joan Cardona (grinder/tactician) from Menorca, New Zealander Steward Dodson (grinder), rookie and who today took over from the Portuguese Bernardo Freitas, and Nicole Van Der Velden (strategist) from Madrid.
Dodson, 29, and 2022 world champion in the GC32 catamaran class, brings experience to the young Spanish team, which in Los Angeles has already had the new coach, the Italian Simone Salvà, a specialist in navigation with ‘foils’.
The wind has been very irregular, not exceeding 7-8 knots (12 to 14 km/h) and has forced them to compete with 29-meter wing sails and maximum-span ‘foils’ (hydrofoils).
They started from fourth position overall and they have prevailed in the first sleeve of the day (fourth of the test) to Australia, skippered by Tom Slingsby, for 48 seconds and to Canada for 1 minute.
In the second heat of the day, the fifth and decisive one to be one of the three teams that entered the final heat, Australia, the United States, with Jummy Spithill as skipper and Canada, led by Phil Robertson, they have made a great start and have opened a clear gap with the rest of the competitors.
Spain has left behind (7th) and in the third section has suffered a double penalty in a fight with the French team. This has taken him to the tenth and last place. With Australia’s victory over the United States and Canada, the Spanish were forced to finish ninth to be the third team in the final.
They had to overcome Switzerland and they have achieved it ‘in extremis’, and with the time limit to conclude the sleeve almost exhausted, but by just two seconds they have succeeded.
With Australia and Denmark, with Nicolai Sehested as skipper, the great revelation of the season in the final, Spain was not a favourite, but Diego Botín has made a masterful start who has left behind his two rivals and Joel Rodríguez from the Canary Islands, given the low intensity of wind, he knew how to maintain perfect flight control.
Spain had an advantage of 500 meters over its rivals, but in the final stretch Denmark launched a strong attack and it was placed only 54 meters from the Spanish, who maneuvered perfectly to leave again and make the Danish effort useless.
Diego Botín commented at the end that, “I think we made a good start and we knew how to maintain control despite the light wind and those reduced from the regatta course. We know that we are not yet at the level of the leading teams, but after having a hard time last season we have started this season with a lot of motivation”.
With this victory, and with two tests disputed, Spain, with 16 points) ties with Denmark in the second position of the absolute general of the Circuit, just one point behind the leader, Australia (17).
The next test of the World Circuit will be held in the waters of the French town of Saint Tropez, on September 9 and 10.
Los Angeles Grand Prix Final Classification (5 races run + final race) .1. Spain Diego Botín (ESP) 10 points.2. Denmark Nicolai Sehested (DIN) 9.3. Australia Tom Slingsby (AUS) 8 .4. Canada Phil Robertson (NZL) 7.5. United States Jimmy Spithill (AUS) 6.6. Great Britain Ben Ainslie (GBR) 5.7. New Zealand Peter Burling (NZL) 4.8. France Quentin Delapierre (FRA) 3.9 Switzerland Sébastian Schneiter(SUI) 2 10. Germany Erik Heil (GER) 1.